Tehran University Medical Journal

Background: Recent evidence suggests that regular exercise training is effective in treating various aspects of cancer. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of 8 weeks of aerobic interval training on monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1) protein and expression of p53 gene in tumor of colon cancer mice.
Methods: The present study was conducted experimentally from May to October 2014 at the Exercise Physiology Research Center of Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Twenty BALB/c mice of age 3 weekly with a mean weight of 17.6±1.4 grams were selected and randomly divided into 4 groups: control (N=5), interval training (N=5), colon tumor (N=5) and interval training+colon tumor (N=5). The cancer was induced by subcutaneous injection of a carcinogenic azoxymethane (10 mg/kg) once a week for three weeks, and aerobic exercise was performed with rodent treadmill for 8 weeks and 5 days a week. Forty-eight hours after the last training session, the mice were cleared and colon removed. Measurement of MCT1 protein was performed by ELISA and commercial kits (ZellBio, Germany). Real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to determine the relative expression of p53 gene. Data were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney U tests.
Results: The results showed a significant increase in MCT1 protein (P< 0.01) and significant reductions in p53 gene expression (P< 0.001) in a colon tumor group compared to other groups. Also, there was a significant decrease in the level of MCT1 protein (P< 0.01) and significant increase in p53 gene expression (P< 0.001) in the exercise training group and exercise training+colon tumor group compared to control group and the tumor group was observed.
Conclusion: The findings of the study showed that aerobic interval training reduced the protein content of MCT1 and increased the expression of p53 gene (as a tumor inhibitor) in the tumor of colon cancer mice. These factors are portions of the mechanisms involved in cancer cell metabolism by which aerobic interval training shows part of its therapeutic effect in colon cancer.

Background: Nuclear medicine imaging has shown high accuracy in evaluating the metabolism of colon cancer lesions. The aim of this study was to investigate the ability of radiomics features extracted from nuclear medicine images as non-invasive biomarkers of lesion metabolism in patients with colon cancer by examining the correlation of these features with SUV (standardized uptake value) max values.
Methods: The current study was a cross-sectional study that was conducted from July 2022 to July 2023 in the nuclear medicine department of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. In this study, PET/CT (positron emission tomography/computed tomography) images of 60 patients with primary colon cancer were used. Colon cancer lesions were manually delineated on PET images by an experienced physician and saved as VOIs (volumes of interest). Thirty-two textural radiomics features were extracted from each VOI, including feature groups of gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), gray-level run-length matrix (GLRLM), neighborhood grey-level difference matrix (NGLDM), and gray-level zone length matrix (GLZLM). Then, the correlation of these features with SUVmax values was investigated using the Spearman correlation coefficient statistical test. Also, the value of p<0.05 was considered as the significance level of the test.
Results: A comprehensive analysis revealed that more than 96% of the examined radiomics features specifically, 31 out of 32 exhibited a statistically significant correlation with lesion metabolism values, as indicated by p-values less than 0.05. Among these features, GLZLM_HGZE stood out with a high correlation coefficient of 0.9881, alongside a significance level of less than 0.0001. Similarly, GLZLM_SZHGE also demonstrated a strong correlation, with a coefficient of 0.9723 and a significance level below 0.0001, indicating a robust relationship with SUVmax values. In contrast, GLZLM_LZHGE was the only feature that failed to show a significant correlation with lesion metabolism values (p>0.05).
Conclusion: The radiomics method has the potential to be used as a completely non-invasive method to evaluate the metabolism of colon cancer lesions and facilitate the monitoring and treatment of patients with colon cancer.

Background: Benign tumors of the gastrointestinal tract with a muscular origin are typically found in the esophagus, stomach, or small intestine, and rarely in the large intestine. Approximately 3% of all gastrointestinal leiomyomas occur in the large intestine, primarily in the descending colon and sigmoid colon. These lesions are usually asymptomatic and are often discovered during endoscopic procedures.
Case Presentation: A 38-year-old female patient admitted to the emergency department of Imam Ali Hospital in Bojnurd city in January 2024, reporting vague and nonspecific lower abdominal pain, abdominal distension, nausea, vomiting, low appetite and signs of partial gastrointestinal obstruction over the past week that don’t have any history of weight loss, gastrointestinal bleeding, constipation or family history of cancer. Her symptoms had not responded to Over-the-counter (OTC) medicines and outpatient treatment. Given the nonspecific manifestations, a CT scan of the abdomen and pelvis with iv contrast was requested for further evaluation of inta abdominal disease. The CT findings indicated a 5.5 cm lesion at the beginning of the large intestine, which exerted pressure on the distal part of small intestine, leading to evidence of partial obstruction of the distal part of small intestin. The patient was diagnosed with small bowel obstruction due to an ascending colon tumor and was scheduled for surgical intervention. She underwent resection of right colon, 10-15 cm of terminal ileum along with drainage of the regional lymph nodes. The excised tissue sample was sent for histopathological examination, which suggested a benign colon tumor likely to be a leiomyoma. To facilitate a more accurate diagnosis, immunohistochemical analysis was recommended, which confirmed the diagnosis of leiomyoma.
Conclusion: Colonic leiomyomas can present with various symptoms depending on their size and location. Due to the difficulty in differentiating leiomyomas from malignant colonic tumors, particularly when they are larger, surgical intervention is often recommended. This case highlights the importance of early diagnosis and appropriate management strategies for these tumors to prevent potential complications.